the kitchen smells like cabbage, a side effect of kimchi fermentation. i personally don't mind, but when i've had roommates here, i usually warm them, or i don't even bother making kimchi until they leave, as a courtesy.

a cold day with a crystal blue clear sky, the optimal weather for peak solar production. the question wasn't if we'd break the all time record today - that was guaranteed - but of how much we'd actually produce. 45kWh? 50kWh? who knows, we were heading into uncharted territory. i kept my eye on the graph all day long, plotting it against past peak productions. it was actually sort of boring, as most of the day was just a solid block of production; only the beginning and ending was interesting.

in the afternoon i made some blueberry muffins. nothing exciting, just using some ingredients i had lying around the house. this was a whole milk muffin, using 1 cup of old fresh blueberries and 1 cup of frozen wild blueberries, with a stick of butter and eggs left out overnight to warm to room temperature. i tried to cream the sugar and butter the best i could, but i don't think i've ever mixed it enough that i've reached the cream stage. the only ingredient i forgot was to add a dash of lemon juice.

i baked the muffins at 425°F for 10 minutes, then 375°F for 30 minutes, adding another 10 minutes to darken the crust a bit. i think next think i will resist the temptation to bake the muffins an extra 10 minutes to see if they come out more moist, even if it means a slightly pale crust. it was one of those rare times when i ate a freshly baked muffin right away instead of waiting. right away i noticed a strong floury taste. was it because i used old flour? or too much baking powder? or because i didn't add a sour note with the missing lemon juice? after that initial hint the floury flavor disappeared and what i had left was a perfectly serviceable blueberry muffin. the fresh blueberries are great in that they simply melt from the heat, like chocolate chips. the smaller frozen wild blueberries are more robust, but even they seem to meld into the muffin. what i like the most is the crust on the sides though. if i could i'd make a cake that was mostly side crust.

i made a grilled cheese & ham sandwich afterwards for a late lunch.

once evening came, it was time to tally up the solar production score: today we made 44.69kWh, about 9kWh more than yesterday, which was the all-time production record for only a day before today's new record. the ending is still a bit of a mystery, around 5pm there seems to be a mini plateau of about half an hour before decreasing production again. i'm not sure what that is.

dinner came in the form of another grilled ham & cheese sandwich, a tall glass of chocolate milk, and some leftover fruit salad. i have a hankering for another food project and i really want to try making traditional kimchi. i want to get some ingredients from chinatown but tomorrow might be too cold to bike into boston.